Editor’s note: Moonshine Ink has a cool article about “new blood” that is helping to revitalize Tahoe City.
“Tahoe City residents have been beaten over the head, time and time again, with all that is struggling in their town — commercial vacancies, population declines, high real estate values,” according to Moonshine Ink. “Most everyone can count off a slew of factors contributing to the frays in Tahoe City’s economic and social fabric. But frankly, most Tahoe City residents are sick and tired of hearing that their town is down. Instead, they are embracing their community, choosing to stay positive, and looking to what can be done.
“The numbers tell one side of the story
“There is no getting around the fact that Tahoe City has some very real issues that threaten its vitality.
“Data from the 2010 Census revealed that the town’s population dropped by 11.6 percent since 2000. Of the 2,119 total housing units in the Tahoe City/Sunnyside census-designated place, only 35.1 percent are occupied full time. An eye-opening 58.5 percent of all housing units in Tahoe City are second homes.
“While Tahoe City’s population has dropped, its home prices remain high. According to data collected by the Tahoe Sierra Board of Realtors for the first quarter of 2011, the median price for homes sold between Dollar Hill and Tahoe City was $653,000. Down the West Shore, the median home price was $550,000. Truckee’s median price for the same period, by contrast, was $375,000.
“Yet, to residents like 33-year-old Brendan Madigan, who is president of the Tahoe City Downtown Association, manager at Alpenglow Sports, and still rents his home, none of the drawbacks to Tahoe City outweigh the town’s lakefront location and community.
“I may not be able to afford a house here,” Madigan said. “But if town could be really rad one day, then that’s a better — another — alternative.”
“To carry their town forward and guide Tahoe City’s evolution, Wilderotter and other established community leaders and business owners point to the next generation that is stepping up to the plate and getting involved with the local community.
“It’s the next generation; it’s new ideas,” said Don Fyfe, owner of Alpenglow Sports. “I think it’s very important that we get that new thought process in there.”
The rest of the article is here.
Filed under: Uncategorized
We used to spend alot of time in Tahoe City in the 90′s and early 2000′s. It was hard to see the empty buildings and failed restaurants we used to love.
We just went through there on Monday and my wife & I both noticed how things seemed to have picked up. Good for them. Now if I can only find that yacht club Jeff was talking about.;)
It’s here and has a great kids sailing program:
http://www.tahoeyc.com/
Is that at the Boatworks? Glad to see the bar is open everyday. And open longer than the office, I noticed. How’s the Sunday brunch?
Yes, it’s right near it. We don’t belong but have enjoyed the bar, which looks out on the Lake.
Jeff, the tough part about getting new ideas and blood in Nevada County is this area doesn’t have the draw of Tahoe. You probably get more young adults with diverse interests and energy that want to live and work in Tahoe than you do here. There is also probably more people representing more diversity and new ideas traveling through the Tahoe area and some of it probably sticks. Western Nevada County seems a bit more closed and more attractive to the retired than the young. Those who want things to stay the way they are in this area even if they’re new seem to get their way. But not changing seems like a prescription for gradual decline.